


Five Times Bucky Didn't Understand French and One Time He Did

by luckynoir



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5+1 Things, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-20 03:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7388668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckynoir/pseuds/luckynoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A cute 5+1 oneshot written for Steve's birthday!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Bucky Didn't Understand French and One Time He Did

**Author's Note:**

> okay so this was inspired by a discussion my sister and i had about how steve most likely learned french from the commandos and how bucky probably forgot most of his since his brain is kinda swiss cheese and here we are lol
> 
> please bear in mind bucky’s not the only one who doesn't understand french so i apologize in advance for any errors!! the translations for each bit are in the bottom notes :)
> 
> also big thank you to users Nanikalice and Godisapokemon for correcting my French!!

Steve squeezed his hand tightly as they stepped off the elevator onto their floor. He grinned, and pressed a light kiss to Bucky’s cheek before sighing happily. 

“Hey, what was that for?” He bumped their shoulders together gently as they walked and smirked toward the ground. “It's not every day that a good lookin’ fella kisses you out of the blue.”

Steve chuckled lightly, and nudged him back for good measure. “ _Because_ , Buck,” he said softly, fishing their key out of his pocket, ”when I'm with you, I feel like- well, like I'm home. We were apart for so long, and now we can finally have a life together, you know? God, I just-”

Bucky kissed him quickly when he saw tears dancing in his eyes, and wrapped his arms around Steve’s lower back. They pulled back after a moment, and Bucky pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek. 

“I know, Steve.” He swiped at the tears that threatened to fall from his own eyes and smiled gently.

The key turned in the lock, and Steve pushed the door open. Their apartment was empty at the moment, of course, but it was bright and warm and most importantly, it offered the promise of their new life together: a life where the pain of yesterday would give way to the love and happiness of tomorrow.

Bucky twined their hands at their sides as Steve kissed him, and he tried to pour as many of the unspoken _thank yous_ and _I love yous_ as he could in return.

When they were both breathless, they broke the kiss and settled for resting their foreheads against one another's. Bucky sighed contentedly in Steve’s embrace, and opened his eyes to see his boyfriend smiling softly at him.

_“Bienvenue à la maison, Bucky.”_

“Hm?”

“Welcome home.”

~*~*~

“Buck! Come on, we need to hurry or we'll be late!” 

“Yeah, yeah, one second!” Bucky looked himself over in the mirror and sighed. He adjusted his tie, rolled his eyes, and untied it completely. 

Fury had demanded that both of them come to meet with government officials at a SHIELD event. It seemed like a reasonable request at the time, but that was before Bucky realized he'd have to dress for the formality. 

After one haircut and countless suit fittings, he was able to come back home and actually get ready. Steve, of course, was ready after five minutes; he was used to this kind of thing. After stressing for a few minutes over whether he was presentable to meet high-ups in the government, he finally figured that he looked good enough. He sighed resolutely, ran his hand through his significantly shorter hair, and opened the bathroom door.

Steve was sitting on their couch, fiddling with his phone when Bucky walked out. He looked up at his boyfriend, and his jaw just about dropped.

“ _Merde_ , il es envoûtant.”

Bucky’s brow quirked. “Steve? One more time, in English please?” 

Steve’s cheeks flushed when he realized he'd just spoken out loud. “Oh, it's nothin’, really,” he recovered, trying not to notice how well the suit flattered his boyfriend and failing miserably.

“C’mon, punk, tell me,” Bucky whined. 

Instead, Steve got to his feet and pulled him into a searing kiss. “Maybe I could tell you later?” His lips ghosted over Bucky's even after they had broken apart.

“Later works,” Bucky murmured back before pressing their lips together again.

They walked into Fury’s event forty minutes late, hair mussed and lips swollen. No one bothered to ask why.

~*~*~

Bucky opened their door to hear Steve talking in rapid-fire French. He rolled his eyes, walked over, and sat across from him at their kitchen table. Once he hung up the phone, Steve stood up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “How was your day?”

“Eh, more of the usual. How about you, who was that on the phone?”

“Oh, just someone SHIELD asked me to call, no big deal.” He tilted his head to the side, and asked, “Do you want to go walk around the city? We haven't really done that yet, and DC is gorgeous at night.”

“Yeah, why not?” He grinned, and grabbed his coat off the back of his chair. 

They stepped into the cool spring air and Steve grabbed his hand. They walked around the quiet city blocks for almost an hour, talking about anything that crossed their minds and trading soft smiles.

When Bucky was about to ask to head home, Steve quirked a smile and shook his head. “Just follow me, Buck.” He led him down a few more streets and into a quiet restaurant.

“Bonjour, monsieur!” called the man behind the counter.

“Bonjour, j’ai une réservation au nom de Rogers?” 

The man smiled and led them back to a small ambient room lit by candles.

“Steve, what is this?” he asked softly, his eyes wide. 

“Happy birthday, Buck,” he replied, kissing his cheek with a gentle smile.

 

~*~*~

“Why did we have to come to France again?” Bucky mumbled as they crossed a bustling Parisian street. “I don't understand anything here.”

“ _Because_ , we had to check in with that overseas SHIELD agent. I wish Fury could've asked someone else, though. I'm not the biggest fan of going undercover.”

He pulled the brim his hat lower to emphasize his point, and Bucky couldn't help but laugh a little. “You've got it rough, pal.”

“Hey, shut up,” Steve grinned, shoving his boyfriend lightly. “It's awkward having everyone staring at you all the time.”

“S’not gonna stop me, though,” he murmured, pressing a light kiss to Steve’s cheek, whose blush was only accented by the rosy hues of the sunset.

They crossed a few more streets before they had to stop for traffic. The crowd had dispersed significantly, and they were alone save for a few men smoking on the street corner.

The light was about to change when one of the men cleared his throat and stepped toward Bucky. “Salut beau mec, voulez-vous venir chez moi ce soir?” He smirked, and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

He turned toward Steve, confused. “Hey, what did that guy just-”

“Hé, pourquoi ne le laisses-tu pas tranquille? il est à moi.” Steve wrapped an arm tightly around Bucky's waist and glared at the man as the light changed. Bucky walked faster to match Steve's pace, and pulled him off to the side once they'd crossed. 

“Steve, what _happened_ back there? Was that guy rude to you or-”

He was cut off when Steve's lips captured his own. His eyes closed as he linked his arms behind Steve's neck, and Steve sighed contentedly. Bucky smirked and deftly ran his tongue across his lower lip, eliciting a gasp from Steve. 

They separated after a while, and panted lightly in the late twilight. “I'm sorry, Buck, I don't know what came over me…” Steve bit his lip and stared at the ground, cheeks flushed pink.

“Steve, babe, don't apologize, that was… well…” He gestured to his overall disheveled appearance and laughed, a grin playing at his lips. 

“I can tell you what that guy said, if you really want to know,” he said sheepishly.

“Hm, you know, I don't think I really care what he said,” Bucky replied, arms still resting on Steve's shoulders. “After all, he's not you.”

~*~*~

Bucky woke up to the sounds of a sizzling pan and a record. He pushed the sheets off, grinning as he walked toward the kitchen. Steve was there, humming and swaying along with the singer’s voice as he cooked. 

“I didn't realize you could dance _and_ cook, Rogers,” he called, amused, from the threshold. “I must be the luckiest fella in D.C.” 

“Hm, no, I think that would be me, actually,” Steve said with a smile as he kissed his cheek. “Good morning.”

They cooked together in comfortable silence, broken only by the singer’s lilting French.

“Hang on, I remember this song!” Bucky grinned and hummed a few bars as proof. “Yeah, we would borrow the radio from the Commandos and whenever this would come on, you'd always insist on dancing…”

“I remember when Jacques and Gabe talked about the lyrics when we first heard it, and I thought it was perfect.” Steve smiled, laughing softly, and offered his hand to Bucky.

Bucky pulled him close and proceeded to lead his boyfriend around their small kitchen. Steve gently sang into his ear, and in that moment, even though he could barely understand the words’ meaning, everything was perfect. 

_“J'ai perdu l'espoir de ton retour, et pourtant je t'aime, encore et pour toujours...”_

~*~*~

They collapsed onto their bed, exhausted from the day’s training (and other activities.) Bucky untangled a blanket from under their legs and haphazardly tossed it over them before shutting his eyes and falling against the pillows.

Steve curled into Bucky's side, and hummed appreciatively when his boyfriend gently threaded his fingers through his hair. Bucky slipped his arm around Steve’s shoulders, and started to trace patterns onto his soft skin.

Bucky smiled at his sleepy boyfriend, who was currently trying to use his arm as a pillow, and softly kissed the top of his head. 

The fan blades turned in slow circles overhead and he felt his eyes close. He smiled slightly as he started to drift off to sleep, and his world seemed to finally fall into place. 

_“Je t'aime, mon cher,”_ he whispered softly, and fell asleep just like that.

Steve smiled gently in his boyfriend’s warm embrace, and snuggled impossibly closer.

_“Je t'aime aussi.”_

**Author's Note:**

> the translations, to the best of my knowledge:
> 
> 1.) welcome home  
> 2.) shit, you look gorgeous  
> 3.) hello, sir! & i have a reservation for rogers?  
> 4.) hey beautiful, want to go home with me tonight? & why don't you back off? he’s mine.  
> 5.) i lost hope of your return, and yet i love you, now and forever  
> 6.) i love you, my darling & i love you too
> 
> also, the song steve sings is called seule ce soir, you can listen to it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Q332aQw-k)
> 
> thank you so much for reading!! kudos and reviews are always appreciated :)


End file.
